Have you seen the movie Signs? The one with Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. And, yes, the one with the scary aliens making signs in the hay fields. (Ok, I think I went a little far.) But, over the last week, I’ve seen signs or heard things from people. And I listened.
To the beginning…………
As you now, I attended a wedding conference last week. And while I was there, I noticed that most of the top photographers and studios were using a gadget that I’ve always wanted to get. But, I really didn’t know if photographers were really using it. It’s called a Wacom Pen Tablet. It’s used like a mouse, but you have a pen, instead. But, the biggest benefit, is comfort and increase production of edited images.
Specifically, I attended a 2-day seminar with Yervant (see below post) and he used the tablet masterfully in editing his wedding and portrait images. He seemed to speed through the pictures with such ease. I was in awe at the final product that only took him about 3-5 minutes to complete. If it were me, it would have probably been about 15-20 minutes. Just imagine if I took off 10-15 off each picture I edit.
For example, for a 100 pictures x 10 min for editing, that’s 1,000 minutes (about 17 hours). But, if I could edit them in 5 minutes (500 minutes or 8 hours). That would say me 9 hrs every 100 pics. That’s a full working day, plus some. WOW!!!
So, I had to get one of these tablets. That was the 1st sign, minor at that. But, he comes the crazy part.
At the Tradeshow, a couple of vendors were actually selling the Wacom tablets at a discount. I was looking at the 4×6 tablet that cost about $199. In one of the product catalogs they had the Wacom tablet at a $15 discount, plus a $40 rebate. ”Nice!!”, I thought. So, I was really in the market. Plus, the sells guy said that I could purchase it anytime before the end of the month. So, I was like, I’ll wait til I get home because I didn’t what to lug it around with me to the airport. 2nd sign.
So, when I got home, I immediately logged in to the vendors site to buy the tablet, but the discount code didn’t work. “Just Great!!”, I thought. But, then I remembered that one of the studios said they got it from Best Buy. (Oh, I love Best Buy. I could go there everyday.) 3rd sign.
I couldn’t wait for it to be shipped to me. So, I drove down to the closest Best Buy to see if they had any. To my delightment, they had only one. But, wait, it was an opened item. (And if you know Best Buy, you get about 10-15% off opened items) So, I checked to see if everything was in it. It was, so I took it up to the counter. But, when I got there, the cashier disputed with me that it wasn’t an opened item, even though the security stickers have been cut. That made me mad. (Like I was the person that opened it!!!! )I left the store in angry and frustration, and most notably without the tablet. 4th sign.
But, I didn’t give up. I decided to try one more Best Buy. It was about 15 minutes away, and a little out of the way. So, I walked in the store, hoping they would have one. To my amazement, they had 2 unopened tablets. But, when I looked at the price tag, it said clearance……… YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!! I walked out of Best Buy only paying $54 (on sale for $79, $25 in gift cards). Plus, I’m still going try and use the $40 rebate. You can’t get a better deal than that.
So, Internet, look for the signs that come at you everyday. You never know what it might bring you.
(Phew……..that was a long post.)
by Brad
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